WORLD NEWS FOR MONTENEGRO DIASPORA
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Very carefully, as before, I will sensitively take care of the needs and interests of the retired population, and I hope that after winning the parliamentary elections, I will have better cooperation with the government, that we will get a good host in that future government, and that we will return normal political life. Because the way we have been living for the last two and a half years is still not normal, said the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) and the current president of the country, Milo Đukanović, at the forum held yesterday with pensioners.
Because the way we have been living for the last two and a half years is still not normal. So, that we will return to normal political life, that we will stabilize the country, that we will regain the interest of investors and people from business, that we work hard to create new social products and that from this newly created product we go further to increase salaries and pensions and improve the standard of living of all the people in Montenegro - pointed out Đukanović.
Pensioners are the foundation of anti-fascist, civil and multi-ethnic Montenegro
During his address, the President expressed his respect for the contribution of pensioners in creating reliable foundations of a civil, multi-ethnic, anti-fascist European Montenegro.
If it weren't for those foundations, we wouldn't have done anything on May 21. It is therefore clear that what the anti-fascists did during the Second World War, what people did in the socialist stage of development after the Second World War in Montenegro, are the sound foundations of the Montenegrin state and Montenegrin society. After the Second World War, hardworking people had an exceptional momentum, exceptional results, and then all the most valuable things that we have today were created. From infrastructure to economic structure, to culture, to identity, etc. It is a solid support for what we are trying to do today. We are just trying to rely on that and to steer Montenegro towards Europe, to establish a European system of values. Why? - Because we want a European quality of life for our people. That is the difference between us and the competition that is now appearing in these elections - he said.
He added that there is not a single smart and responsible person who will say that he does not support the policy of increasing wages and pensions, because, as he points out, that is the meaning of politics.
We engage in politics to improve the quality of life for all of us. But what we differ in is whether we think it is achieved through deception and illusions or whether it is achieved in a serious way. We know very well that you cannot share what is not earned, you know that in your house. Accordingly, it is the same in the state. Here they are now trying to sow the illusion that we can forever share what we did not earn by going into debt. And that is why we have already reached the ceiling when it comes to the interest rate at which we borrow. You know what the next phase is? The next stage is that we will not be able to borrow. Because people do not understand that banks are serious institutions and that they monitor the state of public finances in every country. They give money to those countries that they believe can pay it back. Montenegro has no problem borrowing for the second section of the highway. Because we finished the first section of the highway, the road tax is charged and the loans are returned - warned Đukanović.
The presidential candidate of DPS stressed that it does not occur to anyone that, as he said, in the policy he personifies, he is returning salaries and pensions.
It does not occur to anyone in the politics that I personify to restore salaries and pensions. Not. We are thinking about how to further improve them, but how to further increase them from a realistic basis. And that is why we are moving towards Europe, creating a European value system here and of course the finale of which is the European salary and pension, because that is how we reach that goal. If you don't go that way but go to that way out of debt, then it is very short-lived and you will face the consequences of your illusions very quickly - he assessed.
The "Europe Now" program is not favorable to pensioners
Đukanović pointed out that the Europe program is now inconsistent, and that he is not sympathetic to pensioners.
Those were my basic messages. You play, you give, you increase the salaries of people in the state administration, you spend taxpayers' money, you destroy business investments, so you don't create a new product to cover that consumption from a real source. Rather, you are destroying the social product of Montenegro and of course you are completely unfair because you set out to reward one population and forgot the other, in this case the pensioners - he pointed out.
He recalled the consistent attention to all social structures of society that was typical of the previous government.
You will remember that these were programs that meant subsidizing housing construction, that they were programs that meant subsidizing rest and recovery, programs that meant pooling funds for the payment of winter pensions and other pensioners' benefits, that we entered into contracts with banks that we provided a guarantee that pensioners can borrow money from commercial banks. So that was part of our policy. Unfortunately, there is nothing of that now. Therefore, there is no more residential construction. Let's remember what was done in Podgorica. Therefore, the Association of Pensioners of Podgorica, together with the Capital City, secured the location in 2020. As soon as the clarity of 288 apartments is clear, none of that is the case - said Đukanović.
For them, it only exists, as he emphasizes, if they can reach some votes through some manipulation.
It seems to them that pensioners are not too attractive for manipulation. So somewhere they are trying to show themselves to be modern, to communicate through social networks with the young generation. They perceive pensioners as a relic of the past, as people who were too close to the previous government, they have a need to get revenge on everyone who was part of the previous government. Of course, this only speaks of an absolute lack of seriousness on the part of the people who lead the country today and who have brought it to these branches that they have brought it to - he notes.
Further attention and commitment to social policies
At the end of his address, Đukanović told the representatives of the oldest age that we have a delicate task ahead of us, but also that it is still a simple choice for reasonable people, because, as he said, everything he mentioned cannot be solved other than by changing the government.
We've already tried all the talks, we've tried all the influences, but it's not solved, it's simply a different view of politics and life. It is a view of politics as a means of manipulating people. They do not think what will happen in 6 months when it turns out that the coffers are empty and that neither the old nor the new salary nor the pension can be paid. They don't think about it - said the president of the country.
He repeated once again that change is the only cure, and that we have to change that by winning the presidential and parliamentary elections.
What I want to tell you is that as long as I am in this position, and I am in this position until May 21, 2023, and I believe in my victory and I believe that I will remain in that position in the next mandate as well... Regardless of the fact that it is not as you know the primary responsibility of the president, I will continue to pay great attention to social policies in this society in the belief that we should develop. But in the time when we are developing, we have to balance very carefully between various social structures in our society and we have to take special care of the oldest ones. This is not only our obligation as generations in our families, but when you find yourself in the positions I am in, it must be a state obligation. Therefore, it must be a careful attitude towards that part of our population - concluded Đukanović.
Source - POBJEDA
